Weekly We Make: Twin Symmetry

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About the Weekly We Make Activity

Inspired by the twins, doppelgängers, and doubles in Maia Stark’s paintings, we are using symmetry to draw doubles.  

About Weekly We Make

It’s an art party! Weekly We Make at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, presented by Canada Life, is an opportunity for individuals and families to drop in and create artwork.

Learn about the artists and artworks in MacKenzie’s Permanent Collection and featured exhibitions with weekly in-person hands-on workshops that can be modified for all ages. Visit our studio to make art with Gallery Educators and guest artists, exploring new and beloved techniques and art materials.

There is no cost to attend these drop-in sessions. All materials are provided.

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About the Artist

Maia Stark is an artist living in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who is interested in how people’s bodies and feelings can be shown through stories and pictures. Her drawings, paintings, and clay creations often include references to folktales and fairytales, history, memories, and her family background from Iceland, Ireland, and Scotland. Because Maia is an identical twin, she often uses twins, dopplegangers, and doubles to tell stories about who people are and how they see themselves. 

About the aRTWORK

Pronounced “Say-der,” Seiðr responds to a practice of magic from Old Norse society. Practitioners of seiðr worked with friends, family, and assistants to shape and predict the future. Maia’s work presents a mysterious ritual being performed by sets of twins and doubles. How many doubles can you see in her painting?  

Studio Activity

 

MATERIALS

  • Magazines  
  • Drawing paper 
  • Pencil and eraser 
  • Colored pencils or markers (optional) 
  • Ruler  
  • Scissors 
  • Glue sticks 

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Choose a Magazine Page 
  2. Flip through a magazine and select a page with an image that interests you—this could be a person, object, landscape, or abstract design. 
  3. Create a Line of Symmetry 
  4. Use a ruler to draw a vertical line down the center of your magazine page or fold your page in half and then use scissors to cut off half the page.  
  5. Prepare Your Workspace 
  6. Place your magazine page on one side of your drawing paper. Use the glue stick to glue it in place so it doesn’t move. 
  7. Observe Carefully 
  8. Look closely at the shapes, lines, angles, and proportions on your magazine page. Notice how far each part is from the center line, how tall or wide the forms are, and how details curve or overlap. 
  9. Start Drawing the Reflection 
  10. Begin sketching the opposite side of the image on your blank paper. 
  11. If an object leans left in the magazine image, make it lean right in your drawing. If something is close to the center line in the original, place it the same distance from the line on your side. Focus on capturing the overall shapes before adding details. 
  12. Add Details and Adjustments 
  13. Once the main shapes are in place, add finer details like textures, shadows, and patterns. Compare both sides to make sure they feel balanced and symmetrical. 
  14. Optional: Add Color 
  15. Use colored pencils or markers to bring your mirror image to life. You can match the original colors or experiment with your own palette. 
  16. Reflect on Your Work 
  17. Step back and look at both the original image and your mirrored version. Notice differences, successes, and how symmetry changes the feel of an artwork. 

IMPORTANT WORDS

Doubles: is a blanket term Maia often uses “in order to refer to not only twins, but also to various types of identical bodies, such as doppelgängers or clones.” 

Symmetry: is when two sides of an object match. Some examples of symmetry include snowflakes, faces, and, in Maia’s work, twins, doppelgängers, and doubles.  

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

“Doubles—a blanket term I will use often in order to refer to not only twins, but also to various types of identical bodies, such as doppelgängers or clones—are pervasive in visual media as well as popular culture and mythology. When my interest in doubles became more research oriented, I began to look for examples of twins and—in a more generic sense— ‘doubles’ in art, literature, film, and in television. The unsettling atmosphere that an image of twins creates is, I think, due to the pervasive cultural material about twins and the concepts these stories imply, as well as the unnatural presence of identical faces, which can presume identical identities.” -Maia Stark 

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